14 DAY TRIAL // The appeal of the man who 'threatened' to blow up an UK airport on Twitter has concluded with the judge dismissing every count. Paul Chambers, the man in question, now has to pay £3,000 in fines and prosecution bill. The news has set Twitter ablaze with thousands of people retweeting the original 'threatening' message under the #IAmSpartacus hashtag.
In early January this year Paul Chambers vented his frustration over the Robin Hood Airport in South Yorkshire closure on Twitter.
"Robin Hood Airport is closed. You've got a week... otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!," he tweeted to his 600 followers.
While the tweet was intended and most likely interpreted by his friends as a joke, a police investigation was started. He was later arrested and finally found guilty of sending a menacing electronic message in May.
While originally it was believed he may be charged under bomb hoax laws, he was convicted under the more lenient law against nuisance calls which requires less evidence of intent.
He appealed the ruling, claiming that the message was not menacing, but the judge in the appeal now dismissed all claims.
The judge believed that the tweet was "menacing in its content and obviously so. It could not be more clear. Any ordinary person reading this would see it in that way and be alarmed."
He will now have to pay a £385 fine, an additional £15 victim surcharge and £2600 for the court bills.
Twitter is now rising up in defense of the man. Many are retweeting the original message and others are also contributing under the #IAmSpartacus, a reference to the classic scene in Spartacus where the slaves claim they are Spartacus to defend their leader.
The hashtag is now a trending topic on Twitter and thousands of tweets are pouring in every few minutes. It's unclear if this will have any effect, but it does serve to show how disconnected the law and those who enforce it can be with the real world, especially when it comes to technology.